Shira Berk sure does. So much so that she created Goodie Girl Cookies after her venture into baking the perfect gluten-free quinoa chocolate chip cookie.

With gluten intolerance and gluten allergies becoming more common among children (and adults), many companies are now offering up gluten-free food options. Ridgefield-based Goodie Girl Cookies is one of them.

What was your inspiration for creating Goodie Girl Cookies? I have always loved to bake. I love nothing more than sharing a sweet snack I made with someone who will enjoy it. By the time I was a mom to three small kids, I was actually selling soups, salads and cookies at a café inside their preschool building in Tribeca. My cookies were a quick hit. I made them with really great ingredients. A friend lamented the fact that her child, who had celiac disease, couldn’t enjoy great cookies and I knew I could change that. Thousands of pounds of gluten-free ingredients later, I debuted the first gluten-free Goodie Girl Cookies in a choco-chip and mint slim flavor. It was clear from customers — both gluten free and not — that we had a winning recipe and a game changer for people eating gluten free.

What is your culinary background? Aside from a few intensive weeks of classes at the Institute for Culinary Education (ICE), I have no formal training. I love to read about the science of baking and have immersed myself in test kitchen publications like Cooks Illustrated for many years. I’m fascinated by the science of baking. Amazingly, our cookies earned a great reputation quickly and I was fortunate to hook up with a food incubator based in Queens, where I had access to a kitchen a bit bigger and more functional than my home kitchen. That was a life-saver. We sold our first case of Goodie Girl Cookies in 2013 to G-Free, which was the only all gluten-free store in New York at the time, and teamed with my partners at Toufayan Bakeries [in Ridgefield] in 2014. So, while I’ve been baking for as long as I can remember, my time in the industry as a professional is really about 5 years.

How did your partnership with Toufayan Bakeries in Ridgefield come about? Through that incubator, I was able to enter a contest and the prize was a booth at a very important food trade show. We won! I knew that trade show would open doors, as long as I was willing to have the right conversations. While there, a mentor of mine introduced me to Greg Toufayan of Toufayan Bakeries, and we came up with a recipe for partnership and success.

What is the first Goodie Girl cookie produced? We started with a chocolate chip recipe because it is a classic. We are inspired by the classic cookies of our childhood and hope to make new sweet memories for you and those you love.

What is the most popular flavor? What flavor is your favorite? Mint Slims are the most popular. My favorite flavor today is Midnight Brownie. Not too sweet and super dark chocolate. Ask me again tomorrow.

Where can Bergen County residents find Goodie Girl Cookies? They are available locally at the Market Basket (Franklin Lakes), Walmart, Starbucks, Fairway, The Fresh Market (Montvale), Whole Foods and, of course, Amazon.

Do you have any new flavors releasing in 2018? Yes. We launched a Chocolate Crème that became available in all Starbucks in January. We also have an amazing Vanilla Crème coming. Stay tuned on our social media platforms for some sweet surprises coming up.

Any plans to expand outside cookies? For now, we are focused on making sure Goodie Girl Cookies are the best tasting gluten-free cookies for life’s every sweet-snacking moment. But I really never say never!

Who would enjoy Goodie Girl cookies? Goodie Girl Cookies is committed to using only high-quality ingredients to bake better-for-you snacks and sweets so good they can be enjoyed by all. So my answer is…Do you like cookies? They are for you. And you. And you.

Any advice for someone who wants to start a dessert/baked goods company? My No. 1 piece of advice is to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to show what you don’t know. That whole ‘fake it till you make it’ is interesting but not my way. I know my talents and skills and I know what I don’t know. I can’t be successful unless I am always learning. Seek out people who know, ask questions, listen to the answers and, of course, be willing to do the same for others.